wilson



(No Model.) v 2 sheets-sheet :1.

M. M. WILSON.

GAME APPARATUS. K Y No. 499,000. l Patented June 6, 1893.

FIGA. l maag 15055 Um? WEEEEE (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

M. M. WILSON. GAME APPARATUS.

Patented June' 6, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

MARTIN M. WILSON, OF LLANDUDNO, ENGLAND.

GAM E APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION-forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,000, dated June 6, 1893. Application filed October 24, 1892.` Serial No. 449,761. (No model.)

To a-.ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN MI'DDLETON `VILSON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Eithinog, Abbey Road, Llandudno, in the county of Carnarvon, Principality of Wales, Kingdom of Great Britain, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a game apparatus, and has been designed with the object of forming a game applicable for use on garden lawns. It is played with a narrow bat, a small india-rubber ball, and apost or other support having one or more hoops or rings mounted thereon.

The invention will be best understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front view of a simple form of the ring or hoop, represented as mounted on the top of a post, and Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side view of the bat, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the blade of the same at line .9)a in Fig. 3. Fig. et represents the ball used in the game. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 illustrate forms of the hoop provided with a signaling apparatus or annunciator. Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the court and stations.

A, is the players bat, and B the hoop or ring, which may be fixed upon a post-C, or be supported in some other manner.

I do not confine myself to a merely circular form of hoop, as a triangle, square, heXagon and many other figures will answer the purpose.

The blade of the bat is preferably oval, while theV handle'may be round. The ball K, is preferably of india-rubber, of any suitable color, and may be made hollow in the center to make it rather soft and elastic. A very suitable size for the ring is from ten to thirty inches internal diameter, and it may be painted or otherwise colored. The post or other support on which it is mounted may be adjustable in height, and thering may be detachable from the post. A good material for the ring is angle iron, as this affords the greatest amount. of :visibility and certainty as to howthe ball has passed. i

The post C is xed in the ground at or near the point D, (see diagram Fig. l0) and at a suitable distance from one face of the ring B, the position of the player is marked by a line, E, or by other suitable means. Opposite the other face of the ringB and at a suitable distance therefrom, the position or stand, F, of the feeder is marked; the position of the fag or fags, f, may also be marked on the ground. A line, G, is drawn about half way between the players stand E and the position D of the ring, which I call the balk line. Another line, H, parallel with line G is drawn at about three feet behind the feeders stand. On this line H is formed a court I (square by preference). The lines may be formed by laths or cords held down in place by staples driven in the ground, or by other means, if it be found inconvenient to mark directly 011 the ground. A wicket may be placed behind the player, if desired.

The game can be played by two, three or four persons, or even by a larger number, by

special arrangement. If only two persons play, they are called the player and feeder,

and a third and fourth may act as fags. It is well to engage an independent umpire who may act as marker.

The mode of playing the game maybe as follows, though this mode of playing it may be modified in various waysz--When two play, as the player E goes out, the feeder F goes in; when three play, the player becomes fag, the fag becomes feeder, and the feeder goes in; when four play, there are two fags, one standing to the right and the other to the left of the court l, outside, or in, any other convenient position where they are not likely to obstruct good balls. As the player goes out, the fag toward his right hand goes in, the player becomes left hand fag, the left hand fag becomes feeder, and the feeder becomes right hand fag; that is, when each person is playing singly for himself. If sides or partnerships be formed, the innings are so arranged that the player shall always have an opponent as feeder. The player at E throws the ball into the air, (thus feeds to himself) and strikes it with the bat A. lf he miss, he is out; or, if he strikes with any part of his hand or arm instead of the bat, or if he' fail to drive the ball beyond the balk line, he is out; if he drive the ball so that it lodges or comes to rest in the court I, he scores one. If the player, when he is feeding to himself, wishes to make ringo, which counts, say, twenty, he calls out ring before making the stroke and tries to strike the ball through the ring B, right o the bat A. The feeder stands behind at his position F until the ball is struck or missed and does not attempt to hinder it from passing through the ring B,

but, if it pass through, he may catch it, in which case the player is out. If ringo be made,it counts in any case even if the player be caught out; if the ring be missed, the player scores nothing even if the ball lodge in the court I. After the player has once fed to hilnsalf, the next ball shall be fed to him by the feeder through the ring B and so on alternately. The ball is preferably thrown With an nnderhand throw. If the ball be lodged in the court, it counts, say, live, as against one when the player has fed to himself. If the ball be driven back through the ring B, right off the bat A, it is ringall, which counts, say, twenty-live, whether the ball be caught or not, but, if the ball be not caught, the player claims the set, and a newset or minor game may be commenced. If, however, ringall be made before all the parties have had each an equal number of innings,l the game may be played until each has had an equal number, and, if none of the others can make ringall, (uncaught) the one Who has so made it may claim the set, but, if another should succeed in so making ri'ngall, it may count twenty-live to each and the game shall,

if necessary,4 proceed. The set may con-- The player who has sist,l say, of fifty marks. made ringall may go on playing until he is out and score all he can, except when there are no others to follow, in order to complete an equality of innings. VVRingo must be played for, ringall may be the result of a chance stroke. The player 'cannot be caught out except in making ringo or ringall and then only by the feeder.

Instead of using only one ring or hoop, two, oreven more, may be used placed in any con- Venientrelative positions. are used-arranged as shown in Fig. 6, one is called the feeders ring, through which he feeds the ball; and the other is called the players ring, through which he plays the ball in making the strokes herein calledfringo and ringalL rIhe purpose of the separate ring for the player is that a signaling apparatus or annunciator may be mounted `in it. This annunciator consists of small magnets arranged yabout the interior of the hoop, ring or frame, and a series of slender rods, held each in place by a magnet in such a position that some of them will cross the path of the ball in its passage through the hoop.

In Figs. 5 and 6, the former of which is a fragmentary section of the metal hoop B, there is a series of magnets J, each of which carries a slender strip j, and these latter project radially toward the center of the hoop so When two rings that the ball K cannot pass through the hook Without disturbing some one or more of them and thus announcing the fact of its passage.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section of the preferred form of the annunciator or signaling device. In this case the hoop Bis of Wood or the like and the magnets J are set in the hoop With their poles directed inward. Each stripj has fixed to it an armature lo which is held up to the magnet in the usual way.

Fig. 8 shows a square metal frame with the strips j attached each to a magnet, as in Fig. 6. Fig. 9 shows a square frame or hoop with the magnets, armatures and strips constructed as in Fig. 7. In this view some of the magnets are above and some below, but all may be either above or below, or at the sides.

In Fig. 9the magnets are represented as set in the material of the square hoop or ring, and this construction will serve, but it is obvious that theymay as Well be set in a piece of Wood or the like secured removably to the hoop, and this maybe convenientunder Some circumstances. Y

In any case the strips j will beso arranged as to prevent the passage of the ball through the hoop without disturbing or knocking some of them out. p

I have calledthe part indicated by B, a

hoop, and I prefer a circular hoop or ring;

but the term hoop as here used is notintendy ed to limit to'anyparti'cula'r shape. The pur'- pose of this signaling or annunciator apparatus is to ascertain whether or not the ball has passed through the ring in those cases in which the unaided vision might leave the matter in doubt. It will be evident that, if the ball pass through the ring, the wires or strips j vmust be disturbed and so prevent all disputes.

My annunciator is designed as a semaphore or visual annunciator, as distinguished from an annunciator which appeals tothe sense of hearing. A dispute may readily arise as to the sounding of a bell, for example, in the excitement attending a game,- but when one or more of the strips 7' are knocked off and completely detached from the ring, their displacement for'ms a visible and permanent proof of the passage of the ball through the ring.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-#e l. A game apparatus comprising 'a ball, a supported ring or hoop, and an annunciator within the hoop to announce the passage of the ball therethrough consisting of readily detachable strips extending across V'the opening of the hoop and adapted 'to be knocked from their positions by the ball'in its passage, and means for holding said strips in position, as setforth. l p

2. A game apparatus comprising a ball, a ring or hoop, and a signaling device or annunciator to mark the passage of the ball through the hoop, said device consisting of a series of magnets arranged along the inte- IOO rior of the hoop and holding siend'eristrips or wires, j, which. extend into the space within the hoop in the path of the ball, as set forth.

3. A game apparatus comprising a ball, a ring or hoop, and a signaling device or annunciator to mark the passage of the ball through the hoop, comprising a series of magnets set in the inner face of the hoop, the armatures of said magnets, and slender strips or wires, each secured to an armature and projecting into the space within the hoop in a manner to prevent. the passage of the ball through the hoop without its striking one of said strips, as set forth.

4. A game apparatus comprising a ball, a supported circular hoop, and a signaling de- M. M. VILSON.

Witnesses:

G. C. DYMoND, J. H. TILsToN. 

